Case Study Analysis: Ethical Implications of Apple's iPhone Slowdown

This case study examines the ethical and business implications of Apple's deliberate slowing down of older iPhones. It delves into corporate governance, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sustainability, analyzing Apple's practices against established frameworks like the UK Corporate Governance Code and Carroll's pyramid model. The study assesses Apple's claims regarding CSR and sustainability, comparing them to actual activities and evaluating the impact on stakeholders. Furthermore, it applies normative and descriptive theories of business ethics to understand the ethical dimensions of Apple's actions. The analysis also considers how both ethical and unethical practices affect Apple's internal and external stakeholders, concluding with a comprehensive evaluation of the case.

Business management
Case Study

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Business is wider and broader concept broader concept which is required to be
understood in proper manner so that goals are accomplished. In this changing environment, it
has become necessary to focus on corporate social responsibility corporate governance and
structure as well as importance of ethics that have a wider impact on business.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................2
PART 1.......................................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................4
Discuss corporate governance................................................................................................4
Examine whether good practice is followed by firm using UK current corporate
governance code as a guide....................................................................................................5
2.2 Corporate social responsibility.........................................................................................5
Discuss concept of CSR.........................................................................................................5
Examine Caroll’s pyramid model...........................................................................................6
State claims of firm regarding CS and actual activities.........................................................7
Is firm entity practice consistent with its claimed value? Discuss.........................................7
2.3 Sustainability....................................................................................................................8
What is sustainability?...........................................................................................................8
Apply triple bottom line model..............................................................................................8
How does company promote sustainability?..........................................................................9
Examine and analyse if there is any difference in what they claim and actual activities......9
PART 2.......................................................................................................................................9
Apply relevant normative and descriptive theories of business ethics..................................9
PART 3.....................................................................................................................................10
How do ethical practices affect the selected company’s internal and external stakeholders?
..............................................................................................................................................10
How do unethical practices affect the selected company’s internal and external
stakeholders?........................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................12
Books & Journal:..................................................................................................................12

PART 1
INTRODUCTION
In Business, it is important to be aware about market situation so that it is easy to
make decisions and implement strategies (Chadwick, 2018). Main aim of this report is to
examine understanding importance of ethical issues and their impact on contemporary
business. Apple, multinational technological company headquartered in US. It deals in many
consumer electronics products such as iPhone, iPad, Apple watch, Apple TV, IOS and many
more. Also has many computers has Google Microsoft Dell Yahoo etc. This report comprises
of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility sustainability different types of
normative and descriptive theories of business ethics, stakeholder perspectives and external
stakeholders.
MAIN BODY
2.1Corporate governance-
Corporate governance is kind of a mechanism of a system through which enterprise is
controlled and managed. The board of director are responsible for meaning of overall
workflow of enterprise. Main aim of corporate governance is to build a positive environment
with computation of trust transparency and accountability carry on a long term investment
and stability. In context of Apple, corporate governance of organisation is being taken as a
priority level as because shareholders and supervisors ensure that proper control is being
rolled out so that goals are accomplished within a time period(Mendling, 2018).
Discuss corporate governance
The concept of corporate governance is wider ad broader which is needed to be
properly considered on the basis of it is easy for organisation to achieve their objectives
without facing any issue. Moreover it is also analysed back concept of corporate governance
is also apply to Apple as because impact of this concept such as It helped in delivering of
long term corporate success as well as economic growth, it also has a positive effect on price
of shares because it level up the trust with market.
In relation of Apple, management and supervisors of company have a proper eye on
whether the control is present in a group of team or at work place or not. With conservation
of this concept, Apple is able to improve their Goodwill in the market as well as in
organisation which is beneficial for their development and growth. By applying this corporate
governance, Apple is able to control the employees and other people at workplace, also this
have name to bring new changes within our business environment easily.

Examine whether good practice is followed by firm using UK current corporate governance
code as a guide
Apple is a multinational company, that aims are providing batter quality of products
and services. So it can be stated that manager of the company adopt good practices in proper
manner which help them to achieve their goal easily. With the adoption of good practices,
enterprise is also able to apply the concept of corporate governance in most efficient manner
which also helps them to maintain their uniformity at workplace.
In context of Apple, they use various types of effective practices which help them to
make better decisions in corporate sector. For example there are various types of corporate
governance code as a guide which are maintained and managed by Apple such as director
contract and remuneration, wages and rewards, structure of the committee in a well effective
manner which also results in reducing of several problems (Byukusenge, 2017).
Apple has large community and board of directors which consist of
executive and non-executive directors. Also each and every board member has different
leadership skills and large number of work experience. The dependence of ago directors is the
principle of a good governance. Therefore, from the above matter it is to analyse that
practices are needed to be used with proper considerations so that it is easier to make
effective decisions and achieve competitive benefits. Corporate governance has different
types of structure but the most common and important structure is of shareholders board of
directors, officers and employees. It is critically essential to understand structure of corporate
governance so that relevance difference under taken and benefits are achieved easily.
2.2 Corporate social responsibility
Discuss concept of CSR
In business corporate social responsibility is important which is required to be focused
and adopt so that enterprises is able to achieve opportunity and benefits easily. Corporate
social responsibility is to be defined as a self-regulating business model which assists forms
to be socially accountable to itself, stakeholders and public. Main purpose of CSR is to
deliver social values and maintain the ethics within community is maintained. It is necessary
to available society and communities needs as well as so that company can establish their
mission and vision in correct guidance. In relevance of Apple, as they faces the ethical issue
of important information the customers towards false product and advertisementn(Dias,
2017).
The concept of corporate social responsibility critical process which is
required collection of information. After examining the case study of Apple, it was seen that

fails to manage their corporate social responsibility because of providing wrong information
and creating negative advertisement about the product.
Examine Caroll’s pyramid model
According to this model it states that it is a type of a framework which discusses how
and why enterprise needs to take social responsibility. This model highlights in important
types of responsibility of organisations which are needed to be fulfilled at all level.
In reference of Apple, by applying this model it becomes easier for them to identify
their responsibilities and what time and can impact of organisational overall structure.
 Economic responsibilities- It is a first most important responsibilities which is to be
focused as it depicts about the being profitable on the basis of which other levels are
made up. They are various economies which are being focused by Apple when it
comes to economic responsibility live it is essential to perform inconsistent and better
way in order to earn maximum profit per share. Further it is also necessary to
commute to the profit ratio as much as possible etc.(Herdjiono, 2017).
 Legal responsibilities- In second stage of pyramid it's about the legal responsibility
of organisation which is required to be fulfilled. In context of Apple, this
responsibility obeys the law and legislation green society which reflects what is right
and wrong. In relevance of selected enterprise, the legal responsibility includes
following components like it is necessary for apple to regulate their activities with

proper consideration of Government and the law. Also, the product and services of
Apple are being distributed with following of minimal legal requirements
 Ethical responsibilities- This is another responsibility of this parameter model in
which it focuses on performing everything in ethical way by properly analysing what
is right and fair and to avoid wrong things. So, in consideration of chosen enterprise
from the case Apple it can be seen that they have failed to manage this responsibility
as due to omission of information to the customer and closing of all the products
without any consent. This shows that they did the in ethical job.
 Philanthropic responsibilities- In this type of responsibility, it focuses on being a
good corporate citizen and contributes resources to the community society so that
quality of life gets improved. There are different types of philanthropic components
which are adopted such as it is necessary to help the performing arts, it is also crucial
that both participate in charitable activities within a society in communities.
(Bhandari, 2017).
State claims of firm regarding CS and actual activities.
In context of Apple, they were different types of claims regarding the corporate social
responsibility and actual activities which are discussed as follows-
 Apple has claimed responsibility is being maintained and managed and they are
stepping towards new future development new technologies as well as marketing
strategy.
 It is another claim which was to be reported by Apple regarding the corporate social
responsibility and actual activities. According Apple stated that innovation and
invention will be the top priority of business which state government. Apple also
clean that trust and Goodwill of the firm is needed to be regained
Is firm entity practice consistent with its claimed value? Discuss
Yes, and best practices is consistent with its claimed value. This has been stated that
this apple practices are required to be applied in physical way of communication so that uses
of positive leadership.
The claimed value of Apple is cause expensive and time consuming process but it is
necessary for them to regain the customers (Nekhili, 2017).

2.3 Sustainability
What is sustainability?
Sustainability is to be defined as business awareness and includes all. It is important
to have a long-term sustainability in business so that it contributes to the economic
development and growth. In this concept of sustainable, it is focuses on three pillars which
are economic viability environmental protection and social equity. It is essential to focus on
these three pillars of sustainability the process is being applied to the business.(Lucena,
2020).
In the context of business, Apple country to build an environment for business and
customers. They are planning to be net zero carbon access across business by 2040. With
consideration of concepts of sustainability Apple is able to target customers and enhances
importance of commitment towards their target audience.
Apply triple bottom line model
According to this triple bottom line model, it States that company need to be more
focused towards three elements which are for people and planet and much more on social as
well as environmental concern.
 People- This component of triple line bottom model states impact of business on
human capital. Company is not only entitled towards not only to shareholders but to
employees, customers and people.
 Planet- Planet is also an essential element of the model in which it focuses on
eliminating of ecological footprint aim of driving is sustainability for a longer period
of time to secure the environment. In context of Amazon they uses resources at
efficient level to save the planet.

 Profits- It is to be known as a financial bottom line in which entity main purpose is to
increase the profit level of a business in order to enhance the economic performance
in more efficient way.
How does company promote sustainability?
Amazon promotes the sustainability by using of current and future initiatives for
example energy consumption. Amazon supports the Amazon Web services through 100%
renewable energy sources in the short period of time. Entity promotes the sustainability by
using of current and future initiatives for example energy consumption. Amazon supports the
Amazon Web services through 100% renewable energy sources in the short period of
time(Rhodes, 2018).
Examine and analyse if there is any difference in what they claim and actual activities
After examining of the case study of Apple, It is seen that they investigate and
properly examine the claim under the a-to-z guarantee. Also so the actual duty of Amazon is
different from the claim what they are demanding as because the mistake was done from the
complete side not from the customer side.
PART 2
Apply relevant normative and descriptive theories of business ethics
Normative theories
 Deontology- It is to be known as an ethical theory that focus on morality as doing one
duty by properly obeying all the rules legislation without considering of consequences
of one's actions.
 Virtue ethics- It is a type of an ethic which focus on action based procedure. This
theory of ethics depicts about the highlight of an individual character as a key
component of ethical thinking other than rules and regulations.
 Ethical Egoism- Ethical egoism is to be defined as an attitude position that models
the agents to act in their self-own interest. This theory of ethics is concerned with
ethical altruism is that moral agent have an obligation to provide help to others
 Utilitarianism- According to the theory of ethics it mainly lives down on morality
theory which examine the actions that impact upon happiness or pleasure of
individual (Crane, 2019).
Descriptive theories-
Descriptive ethics theories a type of a theory in which it focuses on attitude of
individual or a group of people who I am sad clarifying the mind-set of people's belief about
things like values whether the actions are right or wrong.
 Individual factors-

Personality traits- The individual factors consist for personality traits in which it focuses
on behaviour of an individual or their attitude to responding to a particular situation.
 Situational factors
Situation cues- It is a situation factor which focuses on objective of a physical stimuli in
environment. Different types of situation are faced by individual and accordingly actions are
triggered (Mendling, 2018).
After a brief analysis of above matter It is seen that both normative and descriptive
theories of business ethics are essential to be understood on the basis of it is easy to analyse
the impact of ethics on an individual
PART 3
How do ethical practices affect the selected company’s internal and external stakeholders?
Ethical practices affecting internal stakeholders-
 Employees- Ethical practices affect the internal stakeholders for example
employees at wider scale as because subordinates make a show and focuses on
the working procedure of company is ethical or not and accordingly they stay
in the company.
Ethical practices affecting external stakeholders-
 Customers- Ethical practice of Amazon also effect upon external stakeholder for
example customer’s focuses on ethical practices of company such as response of
enterprise of queries and complaints (Masou, 2017).
How do unethical practices affect the selected company’s internal and external stakeholders?
Unethical practices affecting internal stakeholders
 Employees- Unethical practices also impact on enterprise internal
stakeholders for example employees. Like Amazon appraisal period is long
and also management of company are harsh towards their employees.
Unethical practices affecting external stakeholders
 Customers- The unethical practice of Amazon also impact upon its external
stakeholders as because many e-delivery shoes are being faced by customers
and Amazon is unable to respond or solve those problems in effective manner
because of their poor management system as well as team (Chadwick, 2018).

CONCLUSION
After a brief analysis of report it has been stated that it is essential to be active and
aware about the market changing situation so that propositions are undertaken when
researching about a particular topic. So discussions have been made up of corporate
governance corporate social responsibility sustainability and theories of business ethics have
been briefly discussed. Moreover, about ethical practices and unethical practices have been
also explained. This is invalid diet it is necessary for a business to analyse and identify the
root cause of a problem so that solutions are provided easily.

REFERENCES
Books & Journal:
Chadwick, 2018. Routledge Handbook of football business and management. Routledge.
Mendling, 2018. Blockchains for business process management-challenges and
opportunities. ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems (TMIS), 9(1), pp.1-
16.
Byukusenge, 2017. Knowledge management and business performance: Does innovation
matter?. Cogent Business & Management, 4(1), p.1368434.
Dias, 2017. Corporate governance effects on social responsibility disclosures.
Herdjiono, 2017. The effect of corporate governance on the performance of a company. Some
empirical findings from Indonesia. Central European Management Journal, 25(1), pp.33-52.
Bhandari, 2017. Corporate social responsibility and capital allocation efficiency. Journal of
Corporate Finance, 43, pp.354-377.
Nekhili, 2017. Corporate social responsibility disclosure and market valu Correia, T.D.S. and
Lucena, W.G.L., 2020. Board of directors and code of business ethics of Brazilian
companies. RAUSP Management Journal, 55(2), pp.263-279.e: Family versus nonfamily
firms. Journal of Business Research, 77, pp.41-52.
Rhodes, 2018. Critical business ethics: From corporate self‐interest to the glorification of the
sovereign pater. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(2), pp.483-499.
Crane, 2019. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of
globalization. Oxford University Press, USA.
Masou, 2017. How to win the battle of ideas in corporate social responsibility: the
International Pyramid Model of CSR. International Journal of Corporate Social
Responsibility, 2(1), pp.1-22.